SmartPal V Mecha-Gumby Service Robot

SmartPal V is a slim service robot designed by Yaskawa Electric Corporation. This robot is designed to work with people to help them achieve a higher quality of life. It has been designed throughout to coexist well with human beings.

The robot moves freely on its wheeled base; it can distinguish one person's voice out of a crowd and obey its owner's instructions. It also offers voice synthesis capabilities to respond directly to questions.

SmartPal V weighs about 280 pounds and is fifty-two inches tall; it has four CCD cameras in its, and can move around at speeds of up to 3.6 kilometers per hour. The running time of SmartPal V is two and one-half hours.

SmartPal V's ability to recognize its environment is provided by its cameras and special software; it can also be taught particular objects that belong to you so it can take care of them better. For example, it can recognize that a bottle left on the floor belongs to you, and should be picked up.

SmartPal V also has the ability to wirelessly network with other SmartPal V robots in its vicinity - all this to serve you better.

I know that Japanese roboticists are feverishly working towards the day when every elderly person in Japan will be taken care of by a robot. I've got to say that SmartPal V's "Mecha-Gumby" looks plus its human-friendly feature list make it the cool robot to have right now.

SmartPal V was introduced today at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo.

Yaskawa has made some interesting robots lately; take a look at these:

Robot Workers Ready To Go Postal
The robot picks up a package as it arrives, scans its barcode to find the destination and then places it upon the appropriate conveyor belt almost as fast as that guy in Men in Black II.